On this day, Qiu Yizhi got up very early, followed Zheng Rong's instructions, went to the palace to bid farewell and receive training, and received Zheng Rong's well-prepared famous letters and entanglements on the road, so he took Zhao Chengxiao out of the city to meet Zhou Cijing as promised.

As soon as the two of them left the inner city, they saw from afar that the senior officials of the week were waiting in front of his extremely gorgeous and magnificent high-rise building with only seven or eight retinues. Before Qiu Yizhi went out, he was worried that Zhou Cijing was flashy and extravagant, and he took a large team to Beijing with him, so that it attracted attention, and now he saw that he was light and simple, and he was cautious in doing things, so he was very happy, so he stepped forward and said: "Zhou Daguan really promised a thousand gold, and now it is the time of Chenpai, so I will set off later!" ”

Zhou Cijing bowed and said, "It's all up to His Highness's orders." ”

Qiu Yizhi said with a smile: "If Zhou Daguan wants to be so polite all the way, then the two of us must not be tired to death in return gifts?" That's good, before the milk smells dry, it is the son and nephew of the big official, so he calls the big official 'uncle', I don't know what to do? ”

Zhou Cijing even said "don't dare" and said, "What is the identity of His Royal Highness?" Calling Xiao Ke like this, isn't it breaking Zhou's forage for no reason? ”

"Haha, didn't Zhou Daguan just say that he wanted to take the horse as the leader? I think that's very good. If my father-in-law knew that I had taken it in front of the great officials, and he would not know how to punish me when he came back! Qiu Yizhi said with a smile.

Zhou Cijing couldn't resist him anymore, and said "transgression" before agreeing.

Qiu Yizhi looked at this group of people again, except for Zhou Cijing himself, there were a total of seven people inside, three of them were coachmen who drove three carriages, and the other four were all riding horses, all of them were dressed in strong clothes and looked very capable. Look at the horse again, but it is not a good horse, only slightly better than the horse cultivated in the field - it is the Han Dynasty to fight against the northern Turks, the implementation of strict horse administration, horses are unified by the imperial court, even dead horses are registered one by one, so even if the rich Zhou Cijing, it is not easy to get together seven or eight horses at a time.

However, this week, the official did not ride a horse, and got into one of the carriages, said "go" to the old man who was driving the car, and the wheel slowly rolled.

This Youyan Dao Realm is a peaceful world, and the surrounding areas of Guangyang City are not left behind, and the group walks very smoothly. But this day rose into the sky early, evaporating every trace of moisture on the ground, and the horse's hooves stepped on the dirt of the official road, and a wisp of white smoke rose with every step. The air seemed to be frozen, and there was not a trace of wind around it, which made people breathless.

Qiu Yizhi's face was flushed by the sun, and he kept wiping the sweat oozing from his pores with a towel, but he saw a person's head sticking out of the small window of the carriage carport in front of him, and when he looked at it, it was Zhou Cijing. I saw him smile and wave his hand, and said softly: "Your Highness, if it's hot, you can go and sit in Xiao Ke's car for a while." ”

Qiu Yizhi was so hot that he had nowhere to hide, and when he heard Zhou Cijing's affection, he said happily: "The little nephew is here to disturb my uncle." "Yizhi has been in Youyan Road for six years, and there has not been a day in the past six years that he has not ridden a horse, so he has been very skilled in equestrianism. I saw that he did not slow down his horse in the slightest, stepped his left leg over the saddle bridge, sat down on the saddle, and jumped firmly into the carriage with a pout, and got into the shed. The sweaty BMW is also very humane, and without the owner on its back, it also follows the car unhurriedly.

Rushing into the carport, Qiu Yizhi couldn't help but shiver, the inside of the car was unusually cool, and there were two worlds outside the car. Originally, the carport was made of two layers of bamboo mats to isolate the heat, and a large basin of ice bricks was placed in each of the four corners of the shed, which was faintly bubbling cold.

Qiu Yizhi rubbed the towel in the half-melted ice water, wiped the stinky sweat accumulated on his face and arms, and suddenly felt comfortable, and said with a smile: "Uncle is really enjoying sitting in this cool car under the hot summer sun." If it weren't for the fact that the little nephew didn't know how to write, otherwise he would have recited a few poems with his uncle, and it would have been in vain. ”

Zhou Cijing was so uncomfortable that Qiu Yi called him an "uncle", and it took him half a day to muster up the courage, handed over a piece of icy watermelon, and said, "That virtuous nephew will rest in my car for a while." ”

Qiu Yizhi took the watermelon, picked up the place where there were no melon seeds, bit a large piece hard, and swallowed it without chewing, and suddenly his eyes were so cold that his eyes were full of gold stars and his head hurt. After a while, the pain subsided, and the heat on the whole body also dissipated. But Qiu Yizhi was born in poverty after all, and he was in the barracks, and he was exposed to the demeanor of his father-in-law Zheng Rong, who loved soldiers like a son, and felt that he was blessed in this cool car, while the rest of his entourage was rushing under the scorching sun, which was really out of place. So he asked for two more slices of watermelon, said "I am out of company", and got out of the carport again.

As soon as he got out of the carport, a wave of heat rushed to his face, which made Qiu Yizhi dizzy, and he felt that his whole body was pressed into a pot that had been impermeable and steamed, and only a trace of cool air sneaking out of the gap in the door curtain of the carport made him feel half comfortable.

So Qiu Yizhi did not ride a horse, and gave a piece of watermelon in his hand to Zhao Chengxiao, who was sitting on a horse and walking side by side, and the other piece was handed to the old man who was driving the car.

The old man took the watermelon, took a bite and swallowed it, and in an instant, even the wrinkles on his forehead and the corners of his mouth were stretched: "Being able to eat such an iced watermelon in these dog days is really a blessing that I have cultivated for several lifetimes." Little old man thanked His Highness Yi! ”

When Qiu Yizhi heard this, his face was full of surprise, and he asked in a low voice, "You actually know my identity?" ”

The old man smiled "haha" and said: "Your Highness walks the streets and alleys with that Fanbang county lord every day, that is called having fun with the people, as long as you are not blind in Guangyang City, which one doesn't recognize?" ”

When Yizhi heard this, he smiled and said, "The old man is right. It's just that the younger generation has important things to do with you Zhou officials on this trip, and I hope that the old man will not break his identity. The word 'Your Highness' can't be said anymore, just because I'm the nephew of Zhou Daguan, just call me 'Gongzi'. ”

The old man glanced at Qiu Yi kindly and said, "I know." Before our host went out, I told Xiao Lao'er and a few of them that there should be a door on the door when we go out this time, if anyone has a lot of mouths, they will not wait to return to Guangyang, and they will go out of Zhoufu halfway! Don't hide it from Your Highness...... Oh no...... Don't hide it from the son, Xiao Lao'er is an old man who has served the Zhou family for several generations, and the rest are either distant relatives of the Dong family, or neighbors who helped the Dong family when they were poor. The owner is generous, and gives us a few wages every month, which is more than the state and county officials' salaries for a year, and we all rely on this silver to support our families, who dares to run with a tongue? ”

Qiu Yizhi listened, nodded and praised: "This week, the rewards and punishments of the big officials are clear, and they know the way of royalty!" ”

Unexpectedly, Zhou Cijing could understand it in the carport, and coughed lightly: "The virtuous nephew has won the award...... This word has both modest and honorific, and it is nondescript, Qiu Yizhi and the old man listened to it, and they all smiled at each other.

Yizhi ignored Zhou Cijing and asked the old man, "I don't know what the old man should be called?" ”

The old man was obviously from the market, and he didn't understand the boring rhetoric of mutual humility in the officialdom: "My mother went to plant rice with a big belly that day, and accidentally fell and gave birth to me in a hurdle." The countryman couldn't read, so he casually took the name of He Kan. I don't think this name is good, how can people carry difficulties every day when they live? Fortunately, there are many brothers of the same generation in our old He family, I am the ninth in line, at first everyone called me He Jiu Brother, then He Jiu Ge, then He Jiu Uncle, and now they all call me He Jiu Gong. I think this name is good, and it also seems that my old He family Ding Xingwang is not ......"

Halfway through the words, Zhou Cijing got out of the carport from behind and said, "I said He Jiu, what kind of senior are you here?" What is the identity of the person? Can I call you 'Nine Princes'? He changed his smile and said to Qiu Yizhi, "Don't be angry, although this He Jiu is not big or small, but he is a good hand at driving a car, and the goods he escorted have never missed for so many years." ”

Qiu Yizhi was unconcerned and said: "It's okay, the little nephew thinks the three words 'He Jiugong' are very good, and it is easy to call." Uncle should go back and rest, the little nephew is about to ask this old Jianghu for advice! ”

Zhou Cijing heard Qiu Yizhi say this, and it was not good to talk any more, and glanced at He Jiugong before retracting into the shed with hatred.

Qiu Yizhi talked with He Jiugong, and then he knew the details of He Jiugong. It turns out that he is sixty-six years old this year, and he has served Zhou Cijing's grandfather and father since he was a child, and he is still loyal even when the Zhou family is in the middle of the road. After Zhou Cijing gave up his pen to engage in business, this He Jiugong was the first partner under him, and he followed the owner to the north and south, it can be said that the Zhou family has today's wealth, and this He Jiugong should be credited with the first credit. Although Zhou Cijing said harshly in his mouth, he treated He Jiugong very well in private, and never regarded him as a person, and the monthly silver was the first inside and out. Originally, Zhou Cijing had arranged for him to retire in Guangyang City, and he was specifically responsible for guiding the newly acquired guys, but considering that this trip was very important, he specially invited him to go out of the mountain to suppress the formation.

Walking and chatting like this, Qiu Yizhi shook in the car for a long time, and the Guangyang City behind him had long been hidden by the mountains, and it was already lunch time. It is not uncommon to see restaurants and tea shops on both sides of Youyan official road, but the group did not stop, and walked a few more miles before stopping at the door of a rather large wine shop. When the shopkeeper who greeted the customers at the door of the wine store saw this group of people coming, he did not come forward to greet him, but hurriedly ran back to the store.

Qiu Yizhi saw it, and said puzzledly: "I said Jiugong, the second child in this shop is hot and dizzy, right?" Treating us as thieves, he didn't come out to greet us, but went back to the store to report the news. ”

He Jiugong replied: "Childe, I don't know, this store is our owner's property. This little two is quite clever, but I'm afraid that he is short-sighted, and when he sees our banner from afar, he should have gone to the store a long time ago, and asked the shopkeeper to come out to greet him in person. ”

As Jiugong said, not long after the shopkeeper entered, more than a dozen people came out of the store, one by one lined up extremely neatly, and the person at the head looked at the clothes and was the shopkeeper in the store. I saw him cautiously walk up to He Jiugong and ask softly, "Dare to ask Jiugong, is the owner sitting in this car?" ”

Jiu Gong didn't answer, sat in the carriage and nodded, which was considered a tacit acquiescence.

The shopkeeper hurriedly walked to the carport, raised his voice slightly, and said, "Little Hu Yulin, I don't know that the owner is coming, and it is really a sin to miss the welcome. ”

Zhou Cijing listened, then got out of the car and said to Hu Yulin: "Okay, okay." I'm just here for a meal, so why are you bothering about it? I see that this gate is full of cars and horses, I wonder if there are any empty seats in the store? ”

"Yes, yes, there is a fine private room that is empty." Shopkeeper Hu nodded and said, "As for these big brothers, there are still vacant seats downstairs......"

Zhou Cijing nodded expressionlessly, then turned his head to Qiu Yizhi and the others and said, "That virtuous nephew, this Brother Zhao, and He Jiu will come with me upstairs to eat." You eat downstairs, don't drink, and don't forget to feed the horses! ”

Because they had to hurry in the afternoon, everyone simply ordered a few dishes to fill their stomachs.

After everyone finished eating, Zhou Cijing inspected the store again, and instructed the shopkeeper: "Your shop is good, and it is very tidy inside and out." Is the stable too close to the guest room, and the few lower rooms on a hot day are not all stinky? In the past few days, you have to hold on to the cultivation wall first, block it, and then push the wall in the spring, and move a row of jujube trees, but is it clear? Zhou Cijing couldn't help nodding when he saw Hu Yulin, and said, "That's it, when I stay in Guangyang, I will stay in your store!" Then he ordered the people to ride horses and chariots and continue on the road.

This group of people ate and stayed at restaurants and inns under the name of Zhou Cijing along the way. Everywhere he went, he carefully inspected and judged, and the shopkeeper was naturally complacent when he was praised, and all those who were criticized were silent like dead fathers and mothers.

Qiu Yi saw that Zhou Cijing managed his subordinates so strictly, so he knew that he was so rich for no reason.